"While we cannot afford open access, we can help some people. We wanted to bring this policy forward and recom-mend the funding continues."

The amount is likely to be close to that spend by the old health authority - about #100,000 a year.

Those more likely to get assistance are couples in a stable relationship who have never had IVF before, where the woman receiving treatment is aged between 26 and 37 years, has no living children and where neither partner has been sterilised.

The funding does not include frozen embryo replacement or storage costs. More money won't be given out if the IVF cycle is unsuccessful.

The policy could be subject to change later this year or next, however, in the light of a review by NICE, the National Institute for Clinical Excellence, the government's medicines quality and effectiveness body.